My betta developed this brown patch on his side (he was shiny white with blue spots) and died very suddenly. He was in a cycled 5-gallon Fluval Chi with good water parameters, but I had brought him home from PetCo only a week ago.

Can anyone tell me what malady this might be, or confirm whether it's columnaris, as I fear?

Chesh

05-03-2013 09:02 AM

I'm sorry you haven't gotten any feedback on this concern yet. . . I wish I could help! How is the little beauty doing? Hoping someone with more experience sees this soon. :(

Deanna01

05-03-2013 09:04 AM

Thank you for your concern. He died the same day I noticed the patch, unfortunately. :( It killed him very quickly, whatever it was.

I have bleached the Chi he lived in, thrown away the filters, swished the plants in bleach water, dechlorinated everything....I just hope I didn't cross-contaminate any of my other fish.

OSagent23

05-03-2013 09:07 AM

I am no expert at all but based on what I could find on the Internet. That huge brownish spot behind the betas gill does look similar to columnaris. I am no expert on it though.

Chesh

05-03-2013 09:17 AM

I'm sorry, hon... if it was Columnaris, it can be a very difficult problem to treat for, especially the strains that take lives quickly. You did the right thing by breaking down the tank. Fingers crossed that it's gone for good. *cries*

twocents

05-03-2013 10:57 AM

you are going through this as well. sorry for the loss.
think the bleaching is the only way you are going to rid yourself of it permanently.
I have a 20 gallon going through this at the moment. I am trying to preserve it, mostly for the plants but I have the feeling it will be torn down as well.
good luck

Deanna01

05-03-2013 07:23 PM

Twocents, I swished the plants in a 20-1 bleach solution for 30 seconds and then dechlorinated them. They're still alive, and I hope it killed the bacteria, but of course I have no way of knowing yet.

Deanna01

05-03-2013 07:26 PM

And thank you both for your concern. I learned several valuable lessons from this about the importance of quarantine, of avoiding cross-contamination, and about selecting healthy-looking fish from the start. :-/ I knew that the betta's fins I bought were ragged in PetCo, but I assumed they had been bitten. I think now that it was the start of the columnaris, and I would not buy another betta with that issue.

twocents

05-03-2013 08:07 PM

thanks Deanna. I have a quarantine tank, but right now it is full of platy babies. I quarantined a couple of females and the next day, the tank was full of them.
There was nothing new in the 20 gallon save for a few plants which may have been the vehicle... the only thing that negates that is some plants from the same store, same tank went into different tanks which still are healthy. swishing them in bleach... keep us posted as to whether that may or may not work.
best of luck.
I may just add some bleach to the tank anyway. will wipe a lot out, but maybe will take the columnaris with it. start over cycling the aquariapure and see.
thanks.

Chesh

05-04-2013 08:20 AM

Best of luck to BOTH of you in getting this nasty illness out of your systems *sigh*